Napoleon Engineering Services recently announced their newly expanded custom bearing manufacturing services, in support of oscillating, wear and corrosive applications. The bearings used within oscillating applications are prone to concentrated, magnified and accelerated fatigue on bearing rolling elements and raceways, since the oscillatory motion itself isolates bearing stress into localized areas. This oscillation can also cause lubricant trapping and damage protective seals. To address the need for corrosion- and wear-resistant bearings capable of withstanding the rigors of these applications, NES Bearings manufactures a variety of ceramic hybrid bearing sizes and types, featuring specialty ring materials, coatings, raceway super-finishing, and self-lubricating cages, with the added benefits of complete in-house testing and inspection services.

Custom manufactured ceramic hybrid bearings from Napoleon Engineering Services incorporate the use of silicon nitride rolling elements. The use of silicon nitride allows the company to offer its customers a lighter weight bearing, one which further reduces the loads and wear associated with high acceleration and centrifugal forces. It also provides greater stiffness and lower frictional characteristics to reduce heat generation and decrease operating temperatures. Silicon nitride bearings offer excellent corrosion resistance for extended life and a lower thermal expansion coefficient as compared to steel, reducing thermal gradient effects across the bearing.

For reliable operation within highly acidic environments, the company offers custom manufactured bearings that incorporate a variety of corrosion resistant materials, such as steels, ensuring their total reliability and performance in process fluid environments, as well as at both high and low speeds. This makes them further suitable for use within demanding manufacturing and vacuum systems environments, as well as within corrosive salt water, oil and gas, and washdown applications.